Project Mom Casting
July 26th, 2010
I am Helen Jane.
I throw amazing parties.
I am an internet grandmother.
I have been putting myself online since 1998.
I have been making friends, connections and technological advancement for more than half my life.
Now, with my life in the Napa Valley, I show readers how to throw the best parties.
I grew up in the Midwest, to a mom who had been a nun for 20 years and an angry, angry father. My mom didn’t cook and my dad hated parties. I decided I’d show them.
I moved all over the country as a web designer in the internet’s early days. Following my heart, I settled in the Napa Valley six years ago. My programmer/musician husband and I have a lot of fun with our two daughters Nora Lea and Dottie (24 and 7 months old).
I co-captain my bocce team Joanie Loves Bocce.
I run my own design firm called Maplevine.
I started a national cheese tasting club called Cheesewhizzes and
I throw parties that may include Prohibition Adventures, Natty Hats, Bellini Bars or yoga sessions sponsored by Zicam.
Our whirlwind life of creativity and celebration is an inspiration for parents anywhere.
(Thanks readers, for tolerating my pitch to Project Mom for a show. You continue to put up with my ceaseless desire.)
Brokey: Preparing for Unexpected Guests
July 12th, 2010
Our social schedule has been busy, what with bocce, birthday parties, more birthday parties and the unscheduled drop-in.
Piles of shoes don’t get put away,
lots of dishes in the sink,
a diaper bag plundering.
I did tell you that we love to drop in on each other, didn’t I?
I used to think that only happened on television — Dylan stops over just as I’m making out with Brandon! Bummer! — but the small town we live in celebrates it. Hooray! A drop-in!
And if it’s not welcome, you just say, “It’s not a good time.”
No harm, no foul.
Your community most likely has different guidelines.
Your friends would be pissed.
But here, here, we embrace the delight with an unexpected guest.
(And more often than not we’re ready for them.)
- Sparkling water (could be club soda).
- Iced tea in the fridge.
- An emergency container filled with dark chocolate, dried fruit, almonds and shortbread cookies.
(My emergency guest container has been filled over time.) - Oranges in the fridge.
- A mint plant.
- A willingness to set aside my to-do list.
My brokey unexpected guest preparation checklist
The last one is the most important to me.
My friends are big gifts.
I’m always thrilled when gifts arrive on the porch.
Mix the above items to serve iced tea with mint.
Serve cool orange slices with bubbly water and shortbread cookies.
Make chocolate bark by melting the dark chocolate and stirring in dried blueberries and almonds.
Nom.
By the way, the brokey part of that is that I’ve collected these items over time. I tend to already have oranges in my fruit drawer and almonds are a family pantry staple.
But you may be asking, “So what do I do now? Unexpected guests are downstairs and by their very nature, I have not prepared anything to serve them.”
Pleasantly enough, that info is coming tomorrow.
In the meantime, she asks me to draw animals, and then she colors them in.
Serious Eatering
July 9th, 2010
Dear awesomeheads,
Did I tell you that I’m writing a weekly entertaining column for Serious Eats?
I did? On Twitter and Facebook already?
Sorry about that.
I just want you to have the best one-handed no-cook appetizers in the land.
Well here’s this week’s article.
You’re on your way.
XO,
HJ